For the second straight year Yorkton Bowling Club bowler Jacob Loewen finds himself destined to compete at the Youth Bowling National tournament.
But this year, however, things will be slightly different.
Last year the talented young bowler represented Saskatchewan as a member of the Bantam Boys Provincial team, helping lead Saskatchewan to a fifth place finish while averaging a team best 164 points per game.
This year Loewen, 12, will try his hand at the Junior Boys singles competition after advancing through the first three tournaments 鈥� or Stages of Stardom 鈥� with a trio of first place finishes at the House, Zone and Provincial level. 鈥淛acob has had quite the season so far,鈥� said Jenn Kostiuk 鈥� one of Loewen鈥檚 bowling coaches alongside Kelly Betker. 鈥淗e finished first in the House Round here, then went on to Zones in Esterhazy and finished first there to advance to Provincials in Saskatoon.鈥�
While at the Provincial tournament in Saskatoon, Loewen 鈥� a rookie in Junior Singles competition 鈥� picked up right where he left off from Zones, bowling an age group best 289 in his first game and never looking back; averaging 222.20 points per game to be crowned 2016 Junior Boys Provincial Singles champion. 鈥淲hat he did was impressive, coming into the Junior Singles category and winning like that,鈥� offered Kostiuk. 鈥淭he age division for the juniors is 11-14, and any time you鈥檙e coming freshly into that division you鈥檙e coming up against bowlers that have bowled in that division for a couple of years, so the experience isn鈥檛 quite there.
鈥淪o for him to go into that and put everything else aside and just go to the lanes and do what he had to do and not worry about what the other bowlers were doing, it was amazing to watch him be able to do that.鈥�
As for the National tournament in Calgary聽 May 7-9, Kostiuk says she鈥檚 not quite sure what to expect from her young pupil. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a tough competition for him,鈥� said Kostiuk. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be going up against the best bowlers in the country, but I think if he bowls his best he鈥檒l do well.鈥�
Loewen, meanwhile, says he has but one goal on his mind when it comes to the Nationals. 鈥淚鈥檓 going there to try and get a place on the podium.鈥�
